System and method for direct response advertising

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods to gather information regarding user responses to advertising. The system determines and/or obtains information identifying a commercial good that is related to an advertisement presented to a user. The system further determines and/or obtains information regarding user interaction responsive to and/or subsequent to presentation of the advertisements. Users may subsequently be able to request more information about and/or purchase commercial goods. Information related to the responses of one or more users may be queried, e.g. by a third party, and provided in exchange for value.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to systems and methods for gathering information regarding user responses to advertising for goods and/or services and, in particular, interaction of users through a user interface on a client computing platform that provides information about and/or offers to sell the advertised goods and/or services.

BACKGROUND

Users can access online services, applications, and web pages via the internet, for example through client computing platforms. Information from televisions, radios, computers, and/or other presentation devices and/or sound-producing devices may be presented to users. Such information may include advertisements for goods and/or services. Online services, web pages, and/or applications may include information about goods and/or services. Online services, web pages, and/or applications may provide the ability for users to purchase goods and/or services. Information may be presented to client computing platforms that are connected to the internet. Using a browser software application to present a web page and/or other information on a client computing platform is known. Hosting information, for example information organized in a database, through a server is known. A server may access another server in the process of presenting information to a client computing platform. User activity online can be monitored and/or tracked to gather potentially valuable information about those users.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the disclosure relates to systems configured to provide and/or respond to advertising, and/or to guide a user response to advertising. One aspect of the disclosure relates to systems configured to gather information regarding user responses to advertising. The system may facilitate interaction between users and service providers, online services, servers (including but not limited to search servers, ad servers, demand-side platforms, and/or other servers), commercial sources, public and/or commercial databases, external resources, third-party ad-brokers, third-party platforms, demand-side platforms, and/or other entities, which may collectively be referred to as commercial providers. The system may facilitate interaction between different commercial providers. The system and/or any entities that interact with the system may be deployed using a (public) network and/or using commercial web services. The system may facilitate interaction involving users, for example through client computing platforms (also referred to herein as computing devices).

Advertising may become increasingly valuable and/or effective if users' effort to respond to an advertisement, e.g. through a purchase, is reduced. Advertising may become increasingly valuable and/or effective if it is tailored to its intended audience. Advertising may become increasingly valuable and/or effective if the advertised goods and/or services are likely to meet a demand or need of its intended audience. Advertising may be either off-line (e.g. through paper mail), broadcast (e.g. through radio or television), or online, e.g. delivered as (digital) content to client computing platforms. Different kinds or modalities of advertising may have different kinds of characteristics and qualities, such that common techniques in one context may not be available or practicable in another context, and/or may be refined or changed for increased value to advertisers in another context or modality.

Advertising may be improved if detailed information regarding the intended audience is available. For example, the system may be able to determine (e.g. based on information about a particular computing device's connectivity with servers) a geographical area that has the highest likelihood of coinciding with the location of a particular computing device, and thus its associated user. For example, the geographical area may coincide with a town, city, and/or community. For example, a website may be able to gather information associated with a particular computing device, including but not limited to a zip code, time zone, preferred language, latitude information, longitude information, global positioning system (GPS) information, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) information, and/or other user-specific and/or device-specific information. Such information may be stated by a user and/or derived in other ways.

By virtue of the functionality described in this disclosure, users may easily and quickly respond to advertising presented to users, in proximity of users, and/or in proximity of client computing platforms associated with users. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, the functionality described in this disclosure includes gathering information about the users responding to advertising. In some embodiments, the client computing platforms of the users may capture and/or receive information (including but not limited to audio, video, text, animation, images, and/or combinations thereof). In some embodiments, the client computing platforms obtain and/or determine an advertisement for a commercial good based on this information. As used herein, the term “commercial good” may include any goods, services, and/or combinations thereof that may be exchanged and/or provided in exchange for value.

In some embodiments, the client computing platforms may obtain and/or determine a commercial source for the commercial good. Commercial sources may provide information related to commercial goods, information related to offers to sell commercial goods, and/or offers to sell commercial goods. By way of non-limiting example, a commercial source may be a retailer, online retailer, store, warehouse, commercial website, service provider, and/or other entity offering commercial goods for sale and/or for other types of exchange of value.

In some embodiments, the client computing platforms may provide the ability for users to purchase the commercial good. Any functionality attributed in this disclosure to client computing platforms may be performed by multiple client computing platforms operating in coordination, by the system described in this disclosure and/or any component thereof, by one or more servers, and/or any combination thereof (e.g., “in the cloud”, and/or other virtualized processing solutions).

In some embodiments, the system may manage, maintain, and use user profiles. Individual user profiles may be specific to a user of the system. Activity of a user may be tracked, monitored, recorded, analyzed, and/or otherwise processed and/or stored. For example, information related to a presentation of a particular advertisement may be stored in a user profile. For example, information related to a particular commercial good for which an advertisement has been presented to a user may be stored in a user profile. For example, information related to user-selection in a user interface on a client computing platform associated with a user may be stored in a user profile. For example, information related to purchases made by a user through the system may be stored in a user profile. In some embodiments, information regarding multiple activities as described herein may be grouped together prior to being stored in a user profile.

As used herein, the term “determine” (and derivatives thereof) may include measure, calculate, compute, estimate, approximate, generate, and/or otherwise derive, and/or any combination thereof. As used herein, the term “obtain” (and derivatives thereof) may include active and/or passive retrieval, determination, derivation, transfer, upload, download, submission, and/or exchange of information, and/or any combination thereof.

Through the functionality of the system described in this disclosure, valuable information regarding users may be gathered. For example, this information may be used for targeted advertising, promotional activities, and/or other purposes. For example, this information may be used, e.g. after being communicated to and/or sold to a demand-side platform, ad server, and/or other interested party or entity, e.g. to provide targeted advertising. Advertising may be targeted, e.g., to users and/or devices. Targeted advertising may be of interest to commercial entities, including but not limited to ad servers, search servers, third-party ad brokers, third-party platforms, and/or other commercial entities involved in buying or selling advertisements on the internet. In some embodiments, third-party platforms may include one or more demand-side platforms.

The system may include one or more servers, one or more physical processors, physical electronic storage, one or more presentation devices, one or more sound-producing devices, and/or other components. The system may further be configured to communicate with, by way of non-limiting example, one or more commercial providers, client computing platforms that are associated with users, and/or other entities described in this disclosure. Individual users may interact, e.g. through browser software applications being executed on client computing platforms, with servers and/or other components of the system.

Presentation devices may be configured to present information to users. The information may include one or more of audio, video, text, animation, images, and/or combinations thereof. Presentation devices may include, by way of non-limiting example, radio, television, client computing platforms, (smart) telephones, (smart) watches, displays, monitors, sound systems, public announcement systems, and/or other devices that present audio and/or video to one or more users.

Sound-producing devices may be configured to present information to users, in particular information including sound. The information may include one or more of audio, video, text, animation, images, and/or combinations thereof. Sound-producing devices may include, by way of non-limiting example, radio, television, client computing platforms, (smart) telephones, (smart) watches, displays, monitors, sound systems, public announcement systems, and/or other devices that present audio and/or video to one or more users.

The processors may be configured via computer readable instructions to execute computer program components. The computer program components may include an information component, an advertisement component, a source parameter component, a source component, a selection component, a presentation component, a purchase component, a tracking component, a compensation component, a user parameter component, a correlation component, a request component, a response component, a transmission component, and/or other components.

The information component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information based on captured sound, captured images, and/or other captured information. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, the information component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information identifying an advertisement for a commercial good. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, the information component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information identifying a commercial good. For example, the obtained, received, and/or determined information may be embedded in the captured information. For example, the captured sound may be captured through a microphone. For example, the microphone may be included in (and/or operate in conjunction with) a client computing platform. For example, the identified commercial good may have been presented to a user and/or presented in proximity of a client computing platform. The client computing platform may be associated with a particular user. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, the captured information may be captured through a camera. For example, the camera may be included in (and/or operate in conjunction with) a client computing platform. The information obtained, received, and/or determined by the information component may include streaming audio and/or video information. In some embodiments, the information obtained, received, and/or determined by the information component may include processed information (e.g. determined by processing the captured sound) that was processed by a client computing platform.

In some embodiments, the information obtained, received, and/or determined by the information component may have been presented to a user, have been presented in proximity of a user, have been presented in proximity of a client computing platform associated with a user, and/or other presented in a way that a user was aware of and/or may have been aware of. As used in the context of this disclosure, the term “proximity” may refer to a distance small enough such that information may be transferred intelligibly. For example, proximity to a user may refer to a distance small enough such that the user can see, hear, and/or understand the transferred information. For example, proximity to a client computing platform may refer to a distance small enough such that the client computing platform (e.g. through a microphone, camera, and/or capturing device) can capture transferred information such that the signal-to-noise ratio of the captured information is good enough for one or more of the types of processing to be successfully performed as described in this disclosure. For example, the obtained, received, and/or determined information may be embedded in the presented information.

In some embodiments, the information component may be configured to store information related to a user's usage of the system, a user's preferences, user parameters, and/or other user-specific information in a user profile. For example, user profiles may be stored in electronic storage. In some embodiments, other components of the system may be configured to store information related to a user's usage of the system, a user's preferences, user parameters, and/or other user-specific information in a user profile.

The source parameter component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information associated with commercial sources. In some embodiments, the source parameter component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine source parameters associated with individual commercial sources. By way of non-limiting example, source parameters may include geographical information related to a commercial source, geographical information related to a particular commercial good for sale through a commercial source, parameters specific to a commercial source (hereinafter “commercial source-specific parameters”), parameters specific to a commercial good for sale through a commercial source (hereinafter “commercial good-specific parameters”), and/or other parameters. By way of non-limiting example, commercial source-specific parameters may include shipping-related parameters, shipping costs, shipping speeds, shipping methods, tax-related parameters, amount of prospective compensation from a commercial source, and/or other commercial source-specific parameters. By way of non-limiting example, commercial good-specific parameters may include price, tax, shipping-related parameters, amount of prospective compensation for providing information related to a particular commercial good, amount of prospective compensation for effectuating a purchase of a particular commercial good, and/or other commercial good-specific parameters.

The advertisement component may be configured to determine advertisements for commercial goods, including but not limited to determinations that are based on particular information obtained, received, and/or determined by the information component. In some embodiments, the particular information may be embedded in information presented to users. In some embodiments, the particular information may include a stream or clip of audio. The advertisement component may be configured to determine an acoustic fingerprint based on the particular information. By way of non-limiting example, the technology used to match audio clips or fragments to particular advertisements may be similar to the technology used by Shazam™ to identify songs based on an audio clip¹. ¹ See http://www.ee.columbia.edu/˜dpwe/papers/Wang03-shazam.pdf

For example, a sound clip may be converted to a time-frequency representation. Based on extreme values in this domain (e.g. for power at a particular frequency), an acoustic fingerprint for the sound clip may include characteristics that correspond to those extreme values. In some embodiments, a set of potentially extreme values that are included in the acoustic fingerprint may be referred to as a constellation. In some embodiments, processing and/or operations performed on the sounds clips may be done “locally” on the client computing platform 14 that is associated with the user. In some embodiments, processing and/or operations performed on the sounds clips may be done on one or more (external) servers. Combinations of these approaches, in which at least some of the processing and/or operations are performed by different physical entities, are envisioned within the current scope in this disclosure. The advertisement component may be configured to match the determined acoustic fingerprint against a database of acoustic fingerprints. Acoustic fingerprints in the database may correspond to advertisements. Advertisements may correspond to commercial goods. The advertisement component may be configured to determine a match for the acoustic fingerprint and/or a likelihood that a match is accurate. A matching acoustic fingerprint may correspond to a particular advertisement and/or a particular commercial good. Any functionality attributed in this disclosure to a particular computer program component may be performed by multiple computer program components operating in coordination, by the system described in this disclosure and/or any component thereof, by one or more servers, and/or any combination thereof (e.g., “in the cloud”, and/or other virtualized processing solutions). For example, control and operation of a database of acoustic fingerprints may be performed by an external resource, e.g. as an online service or online application. For example, control and operation of a database relating advertisements to commercial goods and/or vice versa may be performed by an external resource, e.g. as an online service or online application.

As used herein, any association (or correlation, or correspondency) involving users, client computing platforms, advertisements, commercial goods, commercial sources, acoustic fingerprints, representations of commercial goods, databases, compensations, and/or another entity or object that interacts with any part of the system and/or plays a part in the operation of the system, may be a one-to-one association, a one-to-many association, a many-to-one association, and/or a many-to-many association or N-to-M association (note that N and M may be different numbers greater than 1). The same holds for any association, correlation, or correspondency involving attributes, characteristics, parameters, representations, and/or other derived information of entities or objects that interact with any part of the system and/or play a part in the operation of the system.

The source component may be configured to determine commercial sources of commercial goods. For example, a particular commercial good may be offered for sale by one or more online retailers and/or other commercial sources.

Determinations by the source component may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to price, availability, geographic location, time of day, user-preferences, internal system preferences, source parameters, user parameters, and/or other factors.

The selection component may be configured to select one or more commercial sources from a set of commercial sources. Selection by the selection component may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to price, availability, geographic location, time of day, user-preferences, internal system preferences, source parameters, user parameters, factors based on recommendations, references, and/or endorsements obtained through social networking (e.g. from friends, or people followed by a user), and/or other factors. In some embodiments, selection by the selection component may be based on source parameters associated with individual commercial sources. For example, selection by the selection component may be based on comparisons with one or more selection criteria. For example, selection by the selection component may be based on analysis of source parameters with regard to selection criteria. The parameters used by the selection component may be obtained from, received from, and/or determined by other computer program modules, including but not limited to the source parameter component, the user parameter component, and/or other components.

For example, an internal system preference for the selection component may be based on the compensation structure and/or incentive structure in place with different commercial sources. For example, if two commercial sources offer a commercial good at the same price, the system may favor and/or select the commercial source having the higher compensation for providing a lead or sale. In some embodiments, determinations of commercial sources for commercial goods may be implemented using a database. Commercial goods in the database may correspond to commercial sources and/or vice versa. For example, control and operation of a database of commercial sources and/or commercial goods may be performed by an external resource, e.g. as an online service or online application.

The presentation component may be configured to effectuate presentations of user interfaces to users. User interfaces may be presented on client computing platforms. The user interfaces may include representations of commercial goods, e.g. through icons, text, images, and/or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, representations of commercial goods may be associated with commercial sources. In some embodiments, the represented commercial goods may correspond to advertisements including but not limited to the advertisements as determined by the advertisement component. In some embodiments, the user interfaces may provide information related to commercial goods. In some embodiments, the user interfaces may provide offers for users to purchase commercial goods from commercial sources and/or for commercial sources to sell commercial goods to users. In some embodiments, the presentation component may provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods within the system described in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the presentation component may be configured to redirect and/or link users to external web pages and/or applications that provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods. In some embodiments, combinations of in-system purchasing and external purchasing may provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods.

The purchase component may be configured to effectuate purchases of commercial goods by users. In some embodiments, operation of the purchase component may be performed in response to receipt of user input interacting with a user interface of a client computing platform. In some embodiments, operation of the purchase component may include a payment solution, i.e. the ability to complete a financial transaction. In some embodiments, the purchase component may be configured to collect payments from users.

In some embodiments, the purchase component may provide the ability for users to effectuate purchases within the system described in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the purchase component may be configured to redirect and/or link users to external web pages and/or applications that provide the ability for users to effectuate purchases. In some embodiments, combinations of in-system purchasing and external purchasing may provide the ability for users to effectuate purchases and/or receive information about particular commercial goods.

The tracking component may be configured to track, record, analyze, and/or process information regarding advertisements, including but not limited to occurrences of the presentation of an advertisement to a user and/or occurrences of the presentation of an advertisement in a client computing platform. In some embodiments, the tracking component may be configured to track, record, analyze, and/or process information regarding the operation of the presentation component, the purchase component, and/or other components of the system. For example, the tracking component may be configured to track redirections from the user interface to external web pages and/or applications that provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods.

The compensation component may be configured to track, record, analyze, and/or process purchase information, including but not limited to information regarding purchases that are offered and/or completed through the system. In some embodiments, the compensation component may be configured to determine compensations for any of the operations performed by the system, including but not limited to the operations tracked by the tracking component. For example, the compensation component may be configured to determine a compensation for determining a particular commercial source as the commercial source for a particular commercial good.

In some embodiments, the compensation component may be configured to produce bills, invoices, payments, and/or other financial documents and/or messages to initiate the collection of payments and/or the disbursement of payments based on the determined compensations. The compensation component may be configured to produce, generate, and/or transmit financial documents to initiate the distribution of payments based on the determined compensations for, e.g., commercial providers.

The user parameter component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine user parameters associated with users and/or client computing platforms. An individual client computing platform may be associated with a user. The user parameters may be used by other computer program components, including, but not limited, to the selection component. The user parameters may include one or more of user-specific parameters, geographical information related to a user, a current geographical location of a user, a home location of a user, a work or professional location of a user, a school or leisure-related location of a user, a combination of multiple locations of a user, a time zone of a user, demographic information of a user, stated user preferences, stated user dislike, derived user preferences, purchase history of a user, information related to age, gender, address, zip code, time zone, income level, education level, employment, professional status, family status, personal information, professional information, social media information, racial information, detected language preference, stated language preference, and/or parameters.

The correlation component may be configured to determine correlations between users, objects, and/or other entities used in or by the system. For example, in some embodiments, the correlation component may be configured to determine correlations between attributes and/or characteristics of presented advertisements and commercial goods therein, of presented advertisements and user-selected commercial goods, and/or of presented advertisements and purchased commercial goods, as well as combinations thereof. In some embodiments, attributes and/or characteristics may be used to group advertisements or commercial products together that share commonality. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in the automobile industry. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in a particular price-range. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in a particular category of food and/or entertainment. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are most commonly associated with a particular demographic, such as men between the ages of 18 and 24. In some embodiments, multiple attributes and/or characteristics may be combined. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in a particular industry, in a particular price-range, and most commonly associated with a particular demographic. In some embodiments, the correlation component may be configured to determine correlations between attributes and/or characteristics as described in this disclosure and one or more parameters as used during operation of the request component and/or any other component of the system.

The request component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine requests from external resources, including but not limited to third-party platforms, third-party ad-brokers, demand-side platforms, ad servers, and/or other servers and/or entities. In some embodiments, a request may include a request for a set of identifiers. Identifiers may include user identifiers, machine identifiers, and/or other identifiers. User identifiers identify users. Machine identifiers identify client computing platforms and/or other computing devices. As used herein, the term visitor identifier is used to mean either user identifier, machine identifier, or both. In some embodiments, a request may include a request for one or more visitor identifiers.

In some embodiments, a request from the request component may include one or more parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a parameter that is related to information included in user profiles. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a geographical parameter that is related to geographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system, and/or other geographical information as described in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a demographical parameter that is related to demographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system, and/or other demographical information as described in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a temporal parameter that is related to temporal information regarding the time of day, week, or month that one or more users have used the system, e.g. in particular and/or predetermined ways. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include one or more visitor identifiers. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may have correlations as determined by the correlation component.

The response component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine one or more parameters as requested by the request component. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may be based on information stored in one or more user profiles. In some embodiments, the response component may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine one or more identifiers. The identifiers may include visitor identifiers, e.g. as included in a request received by the request component.

The transmission component may be configured to initiate communication of information to external resources, including but not limited to third-party platforms, third-party ad-brokers, demand-side platforms, ad servers, and/or other servers and/or entities. In some embodiments, communication of information may be initiated by the transmission component in response to a request obtained and/or received from or though the request component. In some embodiments, communication may be initiated and/or transmitted by the transmission component in exchange for value, including but not limited to revenue and/or a monetary amount.

The system may include one or more servers. The server(s) may be configured to communicate with one or more client computing platforms. The server(s) may be configured to communicate according to a client/server architecture, and/or according other architectures. The servers may include search servers, ad servers, ad brokers, demand-side platforms, third-party platforms, and/or other servers.

The server(s) may include physical electronic storage, one or more processors, and/or other components. The server(s) may be configured to execute one or more computer program components. Physical electronic storage may be referred to as electronic storage.

The system may include one or more client computing platforms. Client computing platforms may include one or more processors configured to execute computer program components. The computer program components may be configured to enable a user associated with a client computing platform to interact with the system, any component thereof, other client computing platforms, and/or provide other functionality attributed herein to client computing platforms. By way of non-limiting example, client computing platforms may include one or more of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a handheld computer, a NetBook, a Smartphone, a tablet, a mobile computing platform, a gaming console, a television, a smart watch, a device for streaming internet media, and/or other computing platforms. The term client computing platform may be used interchangeably with the term computing device.

Functionality supported by commercial providers may include the provision of advertisements, web pages, (mobile) applications, apps, stand-alone applications, desktop applications, and/or other types of software applications capable of interacting with a network, for example the internet. As used herein, information and/or functionality provided through any type of software application capable of interacting with a network may be referred to as web pages (including, but not limited to, mobile applications—or apps).

Web pages may be rendered, interpreted, and/or displayed for presentation using a computing platform, such as a client computing platform. As used herein, displaying information through a mobile application—or app—is included in the term presentation. Presentation of web pages may be supported through a display, screen, monitor of the computing platform, and/or projection by the computing platform. Web pages may be accessible from a local computing platform (e.g. not currently connected to the internet) and/or hosted by a remote web server (e.g. connected to the internet and/or one or more other networks). Web pages may be accessed through a browser software application being executed on a computing platform. As used herein, mobile applications may be included in the term browser software application. Web pages may be static (e.g. stored using electronic storage that is accessible by a web server), dynamic (e.g. constructed when requested), and/or a combination of both. The browser software application may be configured to render, interpret, and/or display one or more web pages for presentation using a computing platform. The digital content included in a web page may have been provided by one or more commercial providers. A set of linked and/or organized web pages may form a website. A website may include a set of related and/or linked web pages hosted on one or more web servers and accessible via a network, e.g. the internet. Websites and/or web pages may be accessible through an address called a uniform resource locator (URL).

The servers may include one or more demand-side platforms. A demand-side platform may be configured to provide a market, auction-house, and/or exchange pertaining to advertising, e.g. online advertising. In some embodiments, a demand-side platform provides ad exchange accounts and/or data exchange accounts for advertisers. In some embodiments, a demand-side platform enables (real-time) bidding for displaying online ads. In some embodiments, a demand-side platform may issue and/or transmit a request for and/or invitation to acquire information. The information may pertain to one or more particular users, one or more particular user identifiers that identify particular users, one or more particular devices, one or more particular device identifiers, one or more particular commercial goods, and/or other particular entities.

The servers may include one or more search servers. A search server may host a website that that allows users to interact and/or engage with (searchable) information. Users may interact through user interfaces that are displayed and/or presented on client computing platforms. Information related to entered queries may be processed, analyzed, recorded, packaged, offered for sale, exchanged, combined with other information, and/or sold. In response to a web search query from a particular user through a particular client computing platform, a search server may provide access to and/or present one or more digital media files, e.g. through one or more web pages. The one or more web pages may be presented (or displayed for presentation) to the particular user by a browser software application that is being run or executed on the particular client computing platform. As used herein, the term “files” may include digital files of a fixed and/or predetermined length or size, streams of digital information, and/or combinations thereof. By way of non-limiting example, streams of digital information may include music (e.g. radio), podcasts, video, and/or other streams of information.

An ad server may host and/or provide digital content, usually of a commercial nature and usually to other servers, to be presented for display on client computing platforms. The presentation of digital content may occur in conjunction with the presentation of one or more digital media files, web pages, and/or other digital content used by commercial providers. The digital content may include one or more of advertisements, coupons, offers, sales information, branding information, and/or other information related to commercial goods. The types of information hosted and/or provided by an ad server may jointly be referred to as “ads” or “advertisements” throughout this disclosure.

The functionality of the system is not intended to be limited by any of the examples herein. It is contemplated that information and/or results from any component of the system may be used in any other component, combined with information and/or results from any component, and so forth.

These and other objects, features, and characteristics of the servers, systems and/or methods disclosed herein, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, will become more apparent upon consideration of the following description and the appended claims with reference to the accompanying figures, all of which form a part of this specification, wherein like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the various figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the figures are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended as a definition of any limits. As used in the specification and in the claims, the singular form of “a”, “an”, and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. As used in the specification and in the claims, in a list of items that includes the separator “and/or”, combinations of those items, insofar as practically possible, are envisioned as embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a system configured to provide responses to advertising, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 2 illustrates a method for gather information regarding user responses to advertising, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method for gather information regarding user responses to advertising, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a view of an exemplary user interface in accordance with one or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 10 configured to provide and/or respond to advertising, e.g. on a network 13. In some embodiments, network 13 may be the internet and/or one or more other networks, e.g. public networks. System 10 may include one or more servers 11, one or more processors 20, electronic storage 60, one or more computer program components, one or more presentation devices 15, one or more sound-producing devices 16, one or more commercial sources 17, one or more external resources 18, one or more client computing platforms 14, and/or other components. System 10 may facilitate interaction between users and service providers, online services, servers, commercial sources 17, public and/or commercial databases, external resources 18, third-party ad-brokers, third-party platforms, demand-side platforms, and/or other entities, which may collectively be referred to as commercial providers.

System 10 may facilitate interaction between different commercial providers. System 10 and/or any entities that interact with system 10 may be deployed using a (public) network and/or using commercial web services. System 10 may facilitate interaction involving users, for example through client computing platforms 14 (also referred to herein as computing devices). Users may be associated with client computing platforms 14, and/or vice versa. External resources 18 may include one or more demand-side platforms, ad servers, search servers, service providers, online services, public and/or commercial databases, servers, and/or other entities.

The components in FIG. 1 may be communicatively coupled through one or more networks 13, including but not limited to the Internet. In some embodiments, one or more of the processors 20, electronic storage 60, and/or other components may be included in server 11.

Digital content, for example digital media files containing image data and/or other information, may be presented for display to users on client computing platforms 14 associated with those users. Individual users may request and/or view one or more digital media files through a website or web-based system. The website, its web pages, the web-based system, and/or the digital media files associated therewith, may be accessed by users, for example through browser software applications being executed on client computing platforms 14.

Advertising may become increasingly valuable and/or effective if the effort required from a user to respond to an advertisement, e.g. through a purchase, is reduced. Advertising may become increasingly valuable and/or effective if it is tailored to its intended audience. Advertising may become increasingly valuable and/or effective if the advertised goods and/or services are likely to meet a demand or need of its intended audience. Advertising may be either off-line (e.g. through paper mail), broadcast (e.g. through radio or television), online (e.g. delivered as content to client computing platforms), and/or using a different modality or combination of modalities. Different kinds or modalities of advertising may have different kinds of characteristics and qualities, such that common techniques in one context may not be available or practicable in another context, and/or may be refined or changed for increased value to advertisers in another context or modality.

Advertising may be improved if detailed information regarding the intended audience is available. For example, system 10 may be able to determine (e.g. based on information about a particular computing device's connectivity with servers) a geographical area that has the highest likelihood of coinciding with the location of a particular computing device 14, and thus its associated user. For example, the geographical area may coincide with a town, city, and/or community. For example, a website may be able to gather information associated with a particular computing device 14, including but not limited to a zip code, time zone, preferred language, and/or other user-specific and/or device-specific information. Such information may be stated by a user and/or derived in other ways. Determination of geographical information may be based, by way of non-limiting example, on latitude information, longitude information, global positioning system (GPS) information, Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) information, cell tower information, internet protocol (IP) address lookup, and/or other information.

By virtue of the functionality described in this disclosure, users may easily and quickly respond to advertising presented to users, in proximity of users, and/or in proximity of client computing platforms 14 associated with users. In some embodiments, client computing platforms 14 may capture and/or receive information (including but not limited to audio, video, text, animation, images, and/or combinations thereof). In some embodiments, client computing platforms 14 may obtain and/or determine an advertisement for a commercial good based on this information. In some embodiments, client computing platforms 14 may obtain and/or determine a commercial source for the commercial good. In some embodiments, client computing platforms 14 may provide the ability for users to purchase the commercial good. Any functionality attributed in this disclosure to client computing platforms 14 may be performed by multiple client computing platforms 14 operating in coordination, by system 10 and/or any component thereof, by one or more servers 11, and/or any combination thereof (e.g., “in the cloud”, and/or other virtualized processing solutions).

Through the functionality of system 10, valuable information regarding users may be gathered. For example, this information may be used for targeted advertising, promotional activities, and/or other purposes. For example, this information may be used, e.g. after being sold to a demand-side platform, to provide targeted advertising. Advertising may be targeted, e.g., to users and/or devices. Targeted advertising may be of interest to commercial entities, including but not limited to ad servers, search servers, third-party ad brokers, third-party platforms, and/or other commercial entities involved in buying or selling advertisements on the internet. In some embodiments, third-party platforms may include one or more demand-side platforms.

System 10 may include one or more servers 11, one or more physical processors 20, physical electronic storage 60, one or more presentation devices 15, one or more sound-producing devices 16, and/or other components. System 10 may further be configured to communicate with, by way of non-limiting example, one or more commercial providers, client computing platforms 14 that are associated with users, and/or other entities described in this disclosure. Individual users may interact, e.g. through browser software applications being executed on client computing platforms 14, with servers 11 and/or other components of system 10.

Presentation devices 15 may be configured to present information to users. The information may include one or more of audio, video, text, animation, images, and/or combinations thereof. Presentation devices 15 may include, by way of non-limiting example, radio, television, client computing platforms 14, (smart) telephones, (smart) watches, displays, monitors, sound systems, public announcement systems, and/or other devices that present audio and/or video to one or more users.

Sound-producing devices 16 may be configured to present information to users, in particular information including sound. The information may include one or more of audio, video, text, animation, images, and/or combinations thereof. Sound-producing devices 16 may include, by way of non-limiting example, radio, television, client computing platforms 14, (smart) telephones, (smart) watches, displays, monitors, sound systems, public announcement systems, and/or other devices that present audio and/or video to one or more users.

Processors 20 may be configured via computer readable instructions to execute computer program components. The computer program components may include an information component 111, an advertisement component 112, a source component 114, a presentation component 116, a purchase component 117, a tracking component 118, a compensation component 119, and/or other components.

Information component 111 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information based on captured sound, captured images, and/or other captured information (e.g. video). Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, information component 111 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information identifying an advertisement for a commercial good. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, information component 111 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information identifying a commercial good. For example, the captured sound may be captured through a microphone 142. For example, microphone 142 may be included in (and/or operate in conjunction with) client computing platform 14. For example, the identified commercial good may have been presented to a user and/or presented in proximity of client computing platform 14. Client computing platform 14 may be associated with a particular user. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, the captured information may be captured through a camera 143. For example, the camera may be included in (and/or operate in conjunction with) client computing platform 14. Note that this particular client computing platform 14 may not be the source for the captured sound, the captured image, the captured video, and/or other captured information, which may for example be generated by sound-producing device 16, presentation device 15, and/or one or more other devices.

The information obtained, received, and/or determined by information component 111 may include streaming audio and/or video information. In some embodiments, the information obtained, received, and/or determined by information component 111 may include processed information (e.g. determined by processing the captured sound or image) that was processed by client computing platform 14. For example, a captured image or captured video may have been captured by and/or stored on client computing platform, e.g. through camera 143. In some embodiments, the information obtained, received, and/or determined by information component 111 may include wirelessly transmitted information from a sound-producing device 16, a presentation device 15, an external resource 18, and/or another source. For example, information may be wirelessly transmitted (by a component of a car's entertainment system) to a client computing platform 14 that happens to be inside the car. This kind of wireless transmission of information may, in some embodiments, not require audio signals, and/or not include audio signals. For example, the client computing platform may receive information packets through Bluetooth™ and/or other communication mechanisms that include information about advertisements, commercial goods, commercial sources, and/or other pertinent information.

In some embodiments, the information obtained, received, and/or determined by information component 111 may have been presented to a user, have been presented in proximity of a user, have been presented in proximity of client computing platform 14 associated with a user, and/or otherwise presented in a way that a user was aware of and/or may have been aware of. In some embodiments, operation of information component 111 and/or system 10 may be controlled by a user who can turn components and/or system 10 on or off at will. In some embodiments, responsive to a user turning components and/or system 10 on, the same components and/or system 10 may automatically be turned off after a predetermined span of time has passed. In some embodiments, responsive to a user turning components and/or system on, the same components and/or system 10 may be active indefinitely, performing the operations described in this disclosure.

Source parameter component 113 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine information associated with commercial sources 17. In some embodiments, source parameter component 113 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine source parameters associated with individual commercial sources 17.

Advertisement component 112 may be configured to determine advertisements for commercial goods, including but not limited to determinations that are based on particular information obtained, received, and/or determined by information component 111. In some embodiments, the particular information may include a stream or clip of audio. Advertisement component 112 may be configured to determine an acoustic fingerprint based on the particular information. By way of non-limiting example, the technology used to match audio clips or fragments to particular advertisements may be similar to the technology used by Shazam™ to identify songs based on an audio clip. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, audio clips or fragments may include embedded information, e.g. through embedded tone and/or other marks that may be used to identify songs, advertisements, and/or other information. Advertisement component 112 may be configured to match the determined acoustic fingerprint against a database of acoustic fingerprints. Acoustic fingerprints in the database may correspond to advertisements. Advertisements may correspond to commercial goods. Advertisement component 112 may be configured to determine a match for the acoustic fingerprint and/or a likelihood that a match is accurate. In some embodiments, advertisement component 112 may be configured to determine which entry in a database is the best match for a particular acoustic fingerprint. A matching acoustic fingerprint may correspond to a particular advertisement and/or a particular commercial good. Any functionality attributed in this disclosure to a particular computer program component may be performed by multiple computer program components operating in coordination, by system 10 and/or any component thereof, by one or more servers 11, and/or any combination thereof (e.g., “in the cloud”, and/or other virtualized processing solutions). For example, control and operation of a database of acoustic fingerprints may be performed by an external resource, e.g. as an online service or online application. For example, control and operation of a database relating advertisements to commercial goods and/or vice versa may be performed by an external resource 18, e.g. as an online service or online application.

In some embodiments, the operation of advertisement component 112 may include specialized databases, and/or multiple copies of databases. For example, databases may be specialized regarding one or more specific languages, one or more specific time zones, one or more specific geographical locations, and/or other distinguishing features of advertisements, client computing platforms, users, and/or other entities related to system 10. In some embodiments, the operation of advertisement component 112 may include one or more local databases, regional databases, city-wide databases, county-wide databases, state-wide databases, national databases, and/or other databases containing information (by way of non-limiting example, acoustic fingerprints of advertisements) used to make determinations as described herein. In some embodiments, the operation of advertisement component 112 may include multiple databases that are searched through at the same time. For example, each database may return the best match available, and advertisement component 112 may be configured to select among these options for the better match in light of some criterion (e.g. a likelihood metric).

Source component 114 may be configured to determine commercial sources 17 of commercial goods. For example, a particular commercial good may be offered for sale by one or more online retailers and/or other commercial sources 17. In some embodiments, commercial sources 17 as determined may be able to provide information related to one or more particular commercial goods, In some embodiments, commercial sources 17 as determined may provide information related to one or more particular commercial goods, In some embodiments, commercial sources 17 as determined may be able to provide information related to offers to sell one or more particular commercial goods, In some embodiments, commercial sources 17 as determined may provide information related to offers to sell one or more particular commercial goods, In some embodiments, commercial sources 17 as determined may offer to sell one or more particular commercial goods, Determinations by source component 114 may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to price, availability, geographic location, demographic information of the user, user-preferences, internal system preferences, and/or other factors.

Selection component 114 may be configured to select one or more commercial sources 17 from a set of commercial sources 17. Selection by selection component 114 may be based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to price, availability, geographic location, time of day, user-preferences, internal system preferences, source parameters, user parameters, and/or other factors. In some embodiments, selection by selection component 114 may be based on source parameters associated with individual commercial sources 17. For example, selection by selection component 17 may be based on comparisons with one or more selection criteria. For example, selection by selection component 17 may be based on analysis of source parameters with regard to selection criteria. The parameters used by selection component 114 may be obtained from, received from, and/or determined by other computer program modules, including but not limited to source parameter component 113, user parameter component 120, and/or other components.

In some embodiments, the selection criteria may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of source parameters, user parameters, stated user preferences for particular commercial sources 17, stated user dislike for particular commercial sources 17, obtained user preferences based on effectuated purchases through system 10, obtained user preferences based on effectuated selections of representations of commercial goods by a user in a user interface, purchase history of a user, amount of prospective compensation for providing information related to a particular commercial good, amount of prospective compensation for effectuating a purchase of a particular commercial good, demographic information of a user, and/or other criteria or parameters. For example, demographic information of a user may include information related to age, gender, address, zip code, time zone, income level, education level, employment, professional status, family status, personal information, professional information, social media information, racial information, detected language preference, stated language preference, and/or other demographic information.

For example, an internal system preference may be based on the compensation structure and/or incentive structure in place with different commercial sources. For example, if two commercial sources 17 offer a commercial good at the same price, system 10 may favor and/or select the commercial source 17 that has the higher compensation in comparison for providing a lead or sale. In some embodiments, determinations of commercial sources 17 for commercial goods may be implemented using a database. Commercial goods in the database may correspond to commercial sources 17 and/or vice versa. For example, control and operation of a database of commercial sources 17 and/or commercial goods may be performed by an external resource 18, e.g. as an online service or online application.

In some embodiments, one or more factors used by source component 114 as a basis for determinations may be obtained and/or determined by one or more external resources 18. For example, a factor may be the home location of a particular user, and/or the current location of a particular user. For example, a factor may be location of one or more commercial sources 17. For example, a factor may be a (detected) language of a particular advertisement. For example, a factor may be the current time zone of a particular user. In some embodiments, multiple factors may be combined. For example, a factor may be one or more preferences (e.g. for particular online retailers, or particular shipping methods/speeds, etc.) expressed by a particular user. In some embodiments, a user-preference such as a preferred online retailer may be weighed against a price differential between different online retailers. For example, if the price at the preferred online retailer is within a predetermined price differential threshold (e.g. of 10% of the lowest available price, or $2) when compared against the lowest available price, source component 114 may be configured to select the preferred online retailer. If the price differential exceeds the predetermined price differential threshold, source component 114 may be configured to select the online retailer that offers the lowest price, despite being different from the user-preferred online retailer. In some embodiments, differences in shipping prices may be considered by source component 114 when making determinations.

In some embodiments, the one or more factors used by source component 114 as a basis for determinations may include a factor related to the way in which different commercial sources 17 compensate and/or offer compensation and/or the level/amount of compensation for leads, redirections, and/or sales.

In some embodiments, the one or more factors used by source component 114 as a basis for determinations may include knowledge about what other advertisements, commercial goods, and commercial sources have previously been presented to the user. In some embodiments, prior activity within system 10 may provide context for the operation of the computer program modules. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, prior activities and/or reactions by a user may provide context for the operation of the computer program modules. For example, a commercial source 17 from which a purchase was previously made by a particular user may be favored over another commercial source 17 (e.g. by source component 114). Any of the factors used by source component 114 may be used as the basis for presenting coupons and/or other incentives to users.

Presentation component 116 may be configured to effectuate presentations of user interfaces to users. User interfaces may be presented on client computing platforms 14. The user interfaces may include representations of commercial goods, e.g. through icons, text, images, and/or combinations thereof. In some embodiments, representations of commercial goods may be associated with commercial sources 17. In some embodiments, the represented commercial goods may correspond to advertisements including but not limited to the advertisements as determined by advertisement component 112. In some embodiments, the user interfaces may provide offers for users to purchase commercial goods from commercial sources 17 and/or for commercial sources 17 to sell commercial goods to users. In some embodiments, presentation component 116 may provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods within system 10. In some embodiments, presentation component 116 may be configured to redirect and/or link users to external web pages and/or applications that provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods. In some embodiments, combinations of in-system purchasing and external purchasing may provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods.

By way of illustration, FIG. 4 illustrates a view of a user interface 40 presented on client computing platform 14 (in this case a tablet, by way of non-limiting example). Client computing platform 14 is used by a user 47 who is watching an advertisement 48 on presentation device 15 (in this case a television, by way of non-limiting example). The particular advertisement 48 may be for a particular commercial good. Advertisement 48 may include sound, which may be captured by client computing platform 14 in FIG. 4. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, sound-producing devices 16 a, 16 b, and 16 c (these are non-limiting examples of sound-producing devices 16 as depicted in FIG. 1) may produce sound and/or present information in proximity of user 47, including but not limited to advertisements for commercial goods. By way of non-limiting example, sound-producing device 16 a may be a cellphone (for example, a cellphone belonging to a person other than user 47), sound-producing device 16 b may be a smart watch (for example, a smart watch belonging to a person other than user 47), sound-producing device 16 c may be a radio (for example, a cellphone belonging to a person other than user 47), and so forth. The produced sound from any combination of presentation device 15 and sound-producing devices 16 a, 16 b, and 16 c may be captured by client computing platform 14. Based on the captured sound, the particular advertisement 48 and the particular commercial good may be determined, by virtue of the features described in this disclosure. For example, multiple advertisements for multiple commercial goods may be determined. One or more commercial sources, including a particular commercial source, for the particular commercial good may be determined and/or selected (commercial sources not shown in FIG. 4). User interface 40 may be presented through client computing platform 14 in response to advertisement 48 being presented on presentation device 15. Elements of user interface 40 may be implemented as fields configured to receive entry, selection, and/or confirmation from a user (e.g. user 47). The fields may include one or more of a text entry field, a set of selectable menu items, a selectable field, and/or other fields configured to receive entry, selection, and/or confirmation from the emergency operator. The number of elements, components, and/or (user-selectable) fields depicted in FIG. 4 is meant to be exemplary, and not limiting in any way. User interface 40 may be configured to present information to and/or enable interaction with user 47.

User interface 40 of FIG. 4 may include interface elements 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, and/or other components and/or features. Interface elements 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, and 46 may be, e.g., an object, interface, and/or other items that a user may interact with, such as a menu of user-selectable options and/or actions for engaging the system. Interface elements 41, 42, and 43 may be informational elements, e.g. icons, images, text, animations, and/or combinations thereof. Interface elements 44, 45, and 46 may be action elements. For example, interface element 43 may depict a representation of the particular commercial good and/or the particular commercial source related to advertisement 48. For example, interface element 46 may, upon activation by user 47, effectuate a purchase of the particular commercial good depicted by interface element 43. In some embodiments, interface element 46 may, upon activation by user 47, effectuate presentation of information related to the particular commercial good depicted by interface element 43. In some embodiments, activation of an interface element may open a possibly external web page and/or redirect user 47 to a possibly external web page.

In some embodiments, interface elements 42 and 41 may depict representations of alternate commercial sources for the same particular commercial good as represented using interface element 43. Interface elements 45 and 44 may, upon activation by user 47, effectuate purchases of the particular commercial good at the particular commercial source depicted by interface element 42 and 41, respectively. Alternatively, and/or simultaneously, in some embodiments, interface elements 42 and 41 may depict representations of different commercial goods and/or different commercial sources related to advertisements other than advertisement 48, for example advertisements presented through sound-producing devices 16 a, 16 b, and/or 16 c. For example, interface elements 42 and 41 may depict representations of commercial goods related to previously presented advertisements. Interface elements 45 and 44 may, upon activation by user 47, effectuate purchases of the particular commercial good at the particular commercial source depicted by interface element 42 and 41, respectively.

The number of interface elements as depicted in FIG. 4 is exemplary, and not limiting in any way. In some embodiments, the number of informational elements and/or the number of corresponding action elements may be limited by a predetermined (and/or user-programmable) maximum number. For example, in some embodiments, the maximum number of depicted representations may be 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and/or another maximum number of depicted representations. In such a case, responsive to another advertisements being presented near the user, the user interface may be designed to remove the oldest representation to make place for the newest representation. In some embodiments, other replacement schemes may be used. For example, the user interface may be designed to learn which commercial goods are least likely and/or most likely to be of interest to the user, and use this knowledge as a basis for a replacement scheme. In some embodiments, the number of informational elements and/or the number of corresponding action elements may be limited by a predetermined (and/or user-programmable) time frame or span of time. For example, in some embodiments, the maximum time frame may be 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, 60 minutes, 2 hours, 3 hours, 4, hours, 5 hours, 6 hours, 7 hours, 8 hours, and/or another maximum timeframe. In such a case, the user interface may be designed such that all representations for commercial goods that have been presented within the most recent time frame are depicted. Once the amount of time in the time frame has passed since a particular commercial good was presented, the representation thereof may be removed from the user interface. In some embodiments, combinations of these maximum number and maximum timeframe schemes may be used to determine which representations to depict in the user interface.

Referring to FIG. 1, purchase component 117 may be configured to effectuate purchases of commercial goods by users. In some embodiments, operation of purchase component 117 may be performed in response to receipt of user input interacting with a user interface of a client computing platform 14. In some embodiments, operation of purchase component 117 may include a payment solution, i.e. the ability to complete a financial transaction. In some embodiments, purchase component 117 may be configured to collect payments from users. In some embodiments, system 10 may cooperate with a company or service that handles payment transactions (e.g. through a bank, a credit card company, and/or other payment solutions). in such a case, source component 114 may be configured to favor commercial sources 17 that have particular terms with the company or service mentioned above over commercial sources 17 that have no such terms, or less favorable terms, and/or are otherwise less desirable to be selected from a compensation viewpoint.

In some embodiments, purchase component 117 may provide the ability for users to effectuate purchases within system 10, e.g. through confirmation of a financial transaction. In some embodiments, purchase component 117 may be configured to redirect and/or link users to external web pages and/or applications that provide the ability for users to effectuate purchases. In some embodiments, combinations of in-system purchasing and external purchasing may provide the ability for users to effectuate purchases.

Tracking component 118 may be configured to track, record, analyze, and/or process information regarding advertisements, including but not limited to occurrences of the presentation of an advertisement to a user and/or occurrences of the presentation of an advertisement in client computing platform 14. In some embodiments, tracking component 118 may be configured to track, record, analyze, and/or process information regarding the operation of presentation component 116, purchase component 117, and/or other components of system 10. For example, tracking component 118 may be configured to track redirections from the user interface to external web pages and/or applications that provide the ability for users to purchase commercial goods.

In some embodiments, tracking component 118 may be configured to determine preferences and/or habits of a particular user, including but not limited to what kinds of shows the user watches or listens to. Data gathered by tracking component 118 may be valuable, e.g. for advertisers.

Compensation component 119 may be configured to track, record, analyze, and/or process purchase information, including but not limited to information regarding purchases that are offered and/or completed through system 10. In some embodiments, compensation component 119 may be configured to determine compensations for any of the operations performed by system 10, including but not limited to the operations tracked by tracking component 118. For example, compensation component 119 may be configured to determine a compensation for determining a particular commercial source 17 as the commercial source for a particular commercial good.

In some embodiments, compensation component 119 may be configured to produce bills, invoices, payments, and/or other financial documents and/or messages to initiate the collection of payments and/or the disbursement of payments based on the determined compensations. Compensation component 119 may be configured to produce, generate, and/or transmit financial documents to initiate the distribution of payments based on the determined compensations for, e.g., commercial providers.

User parameter component 120 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine user parameters associated with users and/or client computing platforms 14. The user parameters may be used by other computer program components, including, but not limited, to selection component 115. For example, selection component 115 may be configured to select a particular commercial source 17 from a set of commercial sources 17 based on one or more user parameters in combination with one or more source parameters. For example, in some embodiments, a selection may be based on comparing one or more geographical locations of individual commercial sources 17 with a home location and a professional location of a user. For example, in some embodiments, a selection may be based on a composite comparison involving the price of a particular commercial good including shipping cost, the income level of the user, and the purchase history of the user.

Correlation component 121 may be configured to determine correlations between users, objects, and/or other entities used in or by system 10. For example, in some embodiments, correlation component 121 may be configured to determine correlations between attributes and/or characteristics of presented advertisements and commercial goods therein, of presented advertisements and user-selected commercial goods, and/or of presented advertisements and purchased commercial goods, as well as combinations thereof. In some embodiments, correlation component 121 may be configured to determine correlations between attributes and/or characteristics of presented advertisements and users, of user-selected commercial goods and users, of purchased commercial goods and users, as well as combinations thereof.

In some embodiments, attributes and/or characteristics may be used to group advertisements or commercial products together that share commonality. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in the automobile industry. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in the health industry. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products related to a particular medical condition. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in a particular price-range. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in a particular category of food and/or entertainment. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are most commonly associated with a particular demographic, such as men between the ages of 18 and 24. Any of the demographic information included in this disclosure may be used by correlation component 121. In some embodiments, multiple attributes and/or characteristics may be combined. For example, an attribute of a set of presented advertisements may be that at least some of the advertisements are for products in a particular industry, in a particular price-range, and most commonly associated with a particular demographic. In some embodiments, correlation component 121 may be configured to determine correlations between attributes/characteristics as described in this disclosure and one or more parameters as used during operation of request component 122 and/or any other component of system 10. In some embodiments, attributes and/or characteristics may be used to group advertisements or commercial products together in a way that corresponds to one or more parameters included in a request received by request component 122.

In some embodiments, information stored in user profiles may be aggregated to determine whether a particular user identifier should be included by response component 123 in a set of user identifiers, or to determine the one or more parameters as requested by request component 22. During aggregation of information stored in user profiles, different types of information may be weighted and/or processed differently. For example, information related to the presentation of a particular advertisement for a particular commercial good may be less important (or weighted less) that information related to a particular commercial good that has been purchased by a particular user through system 10.

Request component 122 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine requests from external resources 18, including but not limited to third-party platforms, third-party ad-brokers, demand-side platforms, ad servers, and/or other servers and/or entities. In some embodiments, a request may include a request for a set of identifiers. Identifiers may include user identifiers, machine identifiers, and/or other identifiers. User identifiers identify users. Machine identifiers identify client computing platforms 14 and/or other computing devices. In some embodiments, a request may include a request for one or more visitor identifiers.

In some embodiments, a request from request component 122 may include one or more parameters. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a parameter that is related to information included in user profiles. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a geographical parameter that is related to geographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system, and/or other geographical information as described in this disclosure. For example, the geographical information for a particular user and/or stored in a particular user profile may have been obtained from a particular client computing platform 14 that is associated with a particular user. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a demographical parameter that is related to demographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system, and/or other demographical information as described in this disclosure. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include a temporal parameter that is related to temporal information regarding the time of day, week, or month that one or more users have used system 10, e.g. in particular and/or predetermined ways. For example, a request may include a parameter that corresponds to one or more particular daily periods that are commonly associated with people commuting to and from work. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may include one or more visitor identifiers. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may have correlations as determined by correlation component 121.

Response component 123 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine one or more parameters as requested by request component 122. In some embodiments, the one or more parameters may be based on information stored in one or more user profiles. In some embodiments, response component 123 may be configured to obtain, receive, and/or determine one or more identifiers. The identifiers may include visitor identifiers, e.g. as included in a request received by request component 122.

Transmission component 124 may be configured to initiate communication of information to external resources 18, including but not limited to third-party platforms, third-party ad-brokers, demand-side platforms, ad servers, and/or other servers and/or entities. In some embodiments, communication of information may be initiated by transmission component 124 in response to a request obtained and/or received from or though request component 122. In some embodiments, communication may be initiated and/or transmitted by transmission component 124 in exchange for value, including but not limited to revenue and/or a monetary amount.

System 10 may include one or more servers 11. Server(s) 11 may be configured to communicate with one or more client computing platforms 14. Server(s) 11 may be configured to communicate according to a client/server architecture, and/or according other architectures. Servers 11 may include search servers, ad servers, ad brokers, demand-side platforms, third-party platforms, and/or other servers.

Server(s) 11 may include physical electronic storage 60, one or more processors 20, and/or other components. Server(s) 11 may be configured to execute one or more computer program components. Physical electronic storage 60 may be referred to as electronic storage.

One or more processors 20 may be configured to provide information processing capabilities in system 10 and/or server 11. As such, processor 20 may include one or more of a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, a state machine, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information. Although processor 20 may be shown in FIG. 1 as a single entity, this is for illustrative purposes only. In some embodiments, processor 20 may include a plurality of processing units. These processing units may be physically located within the same device, or processor 20 may represent processing functionality of a plurality of devices operating in coordination (e.g., “in the cloud”, and/or other virtualized processing solutions).

It should be appreciated that although components 111-124, are illustrated in FIG. 1 as being co-located within a single processing unit, in embodiments in which processor 20 includes multiple processing units, one or more of components 111-124 may be located remotely from the other components. The description of the functionality provided by the different components 111-124 described herein is for illustrative purposes, and is not intended to be limiting, as any of components 111-124 may provide more or less functionality than is described. For example, one or more of components 111-124 may be eliminated, and some or all of its functionality may be provided by other ones of components 111-124. As another example, processor 20 may be configured to execute one or more additional components that may perform some or all of the functionality attributed herein to one of components 111-124.

Electronic storage 60 of system 10 in FIG. 1 may comprise electronic storage media that stores information. The electronic storage media of electronic storage 60 may include one or both of system storage that is provided integrally (i.e., substantially non-removable) with server 11 and/or removable storage that is removably connectable to server 11 via, for example, a port (e.g., a USB port, a FireWire™ port, etc.) or a drive (e.g., a disk drive, etc.). Electronic storage 60 may include one or more of optically readable storage media (e.g., optical disks, etc.), magnetically readable storage media (e.g., magnetic tape, magnetic hard drive, floppy drive, etc.), electrical charge-based storage media (e.g., EEPROM, RAM, etc.), solid-state storage media (e.g., flash drive, etc.), network-attached storage (NAS), and/or other electronically readable storage media. Electronic storage 60 may include virtual storage resources, such as storage resources provided via a cloud and/or a virtual private network. Electronic storage 60 may store software algorithms, information determined by processor 20, information received via client computing platforms 14, user profiles, and/or other information that enable server 11 and system 10 to function properly. Electronic storage 60 may be separate components within system 10, or electronic storage 60 may be provided integrally with one or more other components of system 10 (e.g., processor 20).

FIG. 2 illustrates methods 200 and 300 for gathering information regarding user responses to advertising. Regarding method 200, at an operation 202, information is stored in physical electronic storage. The stored information includes user profiles associated with individual ones of the users. Individual ones of the user profiles include information related to advertisements and/or commercial goods presented to the users and/or related to user responses to such presentations. In some embodiments, operation 202 is performed by an information component the same as or similar to information component 111 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 204, information is obtained that identifies the commercial goods. The advertisements for the commercial goods have been presented in proximity of individual ones of the users. In some embodiments, operation 204 is performed by an information component the same as or similar to information component 111 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 206, a request is obtained for a set of visitor identifiers that correspond to the users. The request includes a parameter that is related to the stored information included in the user profiles. In some embodiments, operation 206 is performed by a request component the same as or similar to request component 122 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 208, the set of visitor identifiers is determined based on the stored information included in the user profiles. In some embodiments, operation 208 is performed by a response component the same as or similar to response component 123 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 210, communication is initiated of the determined set of visitor identifiers to the third-party platform in exchange for value. In some embodiments, operation 210 is performed by a transmission component the same as or similar to transmission component 124 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

Regarding method 300, at an operation 302, information is stored in physical electronic storage. The stored information includes a first user profile associated with the first user. The first user profile includes information related to advertisements and/or commercial goods presented to the first user and/or related to responses by the first user to such presentations. In some embodiments, operation 302 is performed by an information component the same as or similar to information component 111 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 304, information is obtained that identifies the commercial goods. The advertisements for the commercial goods have been presented in proximity of the first user. In some embodiments, operation 304 is performed by an information component the same as or similar to information component 111 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 306, a request is obtained for one or more parameters related to the stored information included in the first user profile. The request includes a visitor identifier that identifies the first user. In some embodiments, operation 306 is performed by a request component the same as or similar to request component 122 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 308, one or more parameters are determined based on the stored information included in the first user. In some embodiments, operation 308 is performed by a response component the same as or similar to response component 123 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

At an operation 310, communication is initiated of the determined one or more parameters to the third-party platform in exchange for value. In some embodiments, operation 310 is performed by a transmission component the same as or similar to transmission component 124 (shown in FIG. 1 and described herein).

The operations of methods 200 and 300 presented herein are intended to be illustrative. In some embodiments, methods 200 and 300 may be accomplished with one or more additional operations not described, and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations of methods 200 and 300 are illustrated in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 and described herein is not intended to be limiting.

In some embodiments, methods 200 and 300 may be implemented in one or more processing devices (e.g., a server, a digital processor, an analog processor, a digital circuit designed to process information, an analog circuit designed to process information, and/or other mechanisms for electronically processing information). The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices executing some or all of the operations of methods 200 and 300 in response to instructions stored electronically on an electronic storage medium. The one or more processing devices may include one or more devices configured through hardware, firmware, and/or software to be specifically designed for execution of one or more of the operations of methods 200 and 300.

Although the system(s) and/or method(s) of this disclosure have been described in detail for the purpose of illustration based on what is currently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose and that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, it is to be understood that the present disclosure contemplates that, to the extent possible, one or more features of any embodiment can be combined with one or more features of any other embodiment. 

1. A system configured to gather information regarding purchases by users in response to advertising for commercial goods, the system comprising: non-transitory physical electronic storage configured to store information, wherein the stored information includes user profiles associated with individual ones of the users, and wherein individual ones of the user profiles include: information related to advertisements for commercial goods, wherein the advertisements have been presented in proximity of the individual ones of the users, wherein presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods in proximity of the individual ones of the users has been captured by individual client computing platforms associated with the individual ones of the users, wherein receipt of user input from the individual ones of the users interacting with a user interface presented to the individual ones of the users has effectuated purchases of the commercial goods; one or more physical processors configured via computer-readable instructions to: obtain information identifying the commercial goods; receive, from a third-party platform, a request for a set of visitor identifiers that correspond to the users, wherein the request includes a parameter that is related to the stored information regarding the purchases, the stored information being included in the user profiles; determine the set of visitor identifiers based on the stored information included in the user profiles; and initiate communication of the determined set of visitor identifiers to the third-party platform in exchange for value.
 2. The system of claim 1, and wherein the presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods has been performed by one or more presentation devices that are distinct from the individual client computing platforms, wherein the individual client computing platforms include microphones configured to capture sound associated with the advertisements.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the individual ones of the user profiles further include geographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the individual ones of the users, and wherein the request further includes a geographical parameter that is related to the geographical information.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the individual ones of the user profiles further include demographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the individual ones of the users, and wherein the request further includes a demographical parameter that is related to the demographical information.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the individual ones of the user profiles further include temporal information regarding the time of day the individual ones of the users have used the system, and wherein the request further includes a temporal parameter that is related to the temporal information.
 6. A system configured to gather information regarding purchases by a first user in response to advertising for commercial goods, the system comprising: non-transitory physical electronic storage configured to store information, wherein the stored information includes a first user profile associated with the first user, wherein a first client computing platform is associated with the first user, and wherein the first user profile includes: information related to advertisements for commercial goods, wherein the advertisements have been presented in proximity of the first user, wherein presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods in proximity of the first user has been captured by an individual client computing platform associated with the first user, wherein receipt of user input from the first user interacting with a user interface presented to the first user has effectuated purchases of the commercial goods; and one or more physical processors configured via computer-readable instructions to: obtain information identifying the commercial goods; receive, from a third-party platform, a request for one or more parameters related to the stored information regarding the purchases, the stored information being included in the first user profile, wherein the request includes a visitor identifier that identifies the first user; determine the one or more parameters based on the stored information included in the first user profile; and initiate communication of the determined one or more parameters to the third-party platform in exchange for value.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein the presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods has been performed by one or more presentation devices that are distinct from the first client computing platform, wherein the individual client computing platform includes a microphone configured to capture sound associated with the advertisements.
 8. The system of claim 6, wherein the first user profiles further includes geographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the first user, and wherein the request further includes a geographical parameter that is related to the geographical information.
 9. The system of claim 6, wherein the first user profile further includes demographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the first user, and wherein the request further includes a demographical parameter that is related to the demographical information.
 10. The system of claim 6, wherein the first user profile further includes temporal information regarding the time of day the first user has used the system, and wherein the request further includes a temporal parameter that is related to the temporal information.
 11. A computer-implemented method to gather information regarding purchases by users in response to advertising for commercial goods, the method being implemented in a computer system that includes physical electronic storage and one or more physical processors, the method comprising: storing information in the physical electronic storage, wherein the stored information includes user profiles associated with individual ones of the users, and wherein individual ones of the user profiles include: information related to advertisements for commercial goods, wherein the advertisements have been presented in proximity of the individual ones of the users, wherein presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods in proximity of the individual ones of the users has been captured by individual client computing platforms associated with the individual ones of the users, wherein receipt of user input from the individual ones of the users interacting with a user interface presented to the individual ones of the users has effectuated purchases of the commercial goods; obtaining information identifying the commercial goods; receiving, from a third-party platform, a request for a set of visitor identifiers that correspond to the users, wherein the request includes a parameter that is related to the stored information regarding the purchases, the stored information being included in the user profiles; determining the set of visitor identifiers based on the stored information included in the user profiles; and initiating communication of the determined set of visitor identifiers to the third-party platform in exchange for value.
 12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: capturing, by microphones included in the individual client computing platforms associated with the individual ones of the users, sound associated with the advertisements, wherein the presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods has been performed by one or more presentation devices that are distinct from the individual client computing platforms.
 13. The method of claim 11, wherein the individual ones of the user profiles further include geographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the individual ones of the users, wherein the request further includes a geographical parameter that is related to the geographical information, and wherein determining the set of visitor identifiers is further based on the geographical parameter.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the individual ones of the user profiles further include demographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the individual ones of the users, wherein the request further includes a demographical parameter that is related to the demographical information, and wherein determining the set of visitor identifiers is further based on the demographical parameter.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein the individual ones of the user profiles further include temporal information regarding the time of day the individual ones of the users have used the system, wherein the request further includes a temporal parameter that is related to the temporal information, and wherein determining the set of visitor identifiers is further based on the temporal parameter.
 16. A computer-implemented method to gather information regarding purchases by a first user in response to advertising for commercial goods, the method being implemented in a computer system that includes physical electronic storage and one or more physical processors, the method comprising: storing information in the physical electronic storage, wherein the stored information includes a first user profile associated with the first user, wherein a first client computing platform is associated with the first user, and wherein individual ones of the user profiles include: information related to advertisements for commercial goods, wherein the advertisements have been presented in proximity of the first user, wherein presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods in proximity of the first user has been captured by an individual client computing platform associated with the first user, wherein receipt of user input from the first user interacting with a user interface presented to the first user has effectuated purchases of the commercial goods; obtaining information identifying the commercial goods; receiving, from a third-party platform, a request for one or more parameters related to the stored information regarding the purchases, the stored information being included in the first user profile, wherein the request includes a visitor identifier that identifies the first user; determining the one or more parameters based on the stored information included in the first user; and initiating communication of the determined one or more parameters to the third-party platform in exchange for value.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: capturing, by a microphone included in the first client computing platform, sound associated with the advertisements, wherein the presentation of the advertisements for the commercial goods has been performed by one or more presentation devices that are distinct from the first client computing platform.
 18. The method of claim 16, wherein the first user profile further includes geographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the first user, wherein the request further includes a geographical parameter that is related to the geographical information, and wherein determining the one or more parameters is further based on the geographical parameter.
 19. The method of claim 16, wherein the first user profile further includes demographical information that has been obtained through usage of the system by the first user, wherein the request further includes a demographical parameter that is related to the demographical information, and wherein determining the one or more parameters is further based on the demographical parameter.
 20. The method of claim 16, wherein the first user profile further includes temporal information regarding the time of day the first user has used the system, wherein the request further includes a temporal parameter that is related to the temporal information, and wherein determining the one or more parameters is further based on the temporal parameter. 